McConnell says Obama trying to ‘intimidate’ court

Sen. Mitch McConnell, speaking in his home state of Kentucky, said Thursday President Barack Obama was trying to “intimidate” the Supreme Court into upholding health-care legislation.

Earlier this week, Obama created a stir when he said it would be unprecedented for the court to overturn a law passed convincingly. (For the record, while the legislation did get 60 votes in the Senate, the Affordable Care Act only narrowly was approved in the House; and such an overturn would not be unprecedented, as Obama said it would be.)

“With his words, he was no longer trying to embarrass the Court after a decision; rather, he tried to intimidate it before a decision has been made. And that should be intolerable to all of us,” said McConnell, the top Republican in the upper chamber.

Meanwhile, Attorney-General Eric Holder told a circuit court the Obama administration supported the concept of judicial review, after judges ordered such a letter following Obama’s comments. But he didn’t entirely throw his boss under the bus, noting that acts of Congress are presumptively considered to be constitutional.